


Times change, Eureka stays the same.

by JediJewels25



Category: Eureka
Genre: Erika and Zane are besties, Erika is an oc, Eureka - Freeform, Everyone ends up with a happy ending, F/M, Lots of explosions, Mild Language, Romances, S.A.R.A.H. is noesy, Small town big secret, TINY - Freeform, Time Travel, Unexpected Pregnancy, Zane starts out snarky, hectic families, single mother kicking ass, surpirse triplets, turns out to be sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-02 10:17:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14542551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediJewels25/pseuds/JediJewels25
Summary: It was just another Day in Eureka, then BAM! Erica, Cater, Allison, Jo, Fargo, and Henry wound up in 1947. They eventually  found their way back home with the help of Trevor Grant but surprise! Home isn't exactly the way they left it. Its a new day, but the same old, strange town.Set in season four after the time line change, the six adjust to their new yet somehow still the same crazy, unpredicalble, dynamic lives.





	1. “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice!” ~Zane

**Author's Note:**

> Season 4 is one of my favorites, at one point I tried to write a pregnancy from Jo's perspective but it didn't get far because I just can't write a story from the point of a character that isn't mine without feeling like I'm taking away from the original creator's intentions. Erica is my own and I can work with her. I only own Erica and Rockne as mentioned, nothing else. I do kinda skip around the episodes sorry.  
> Anyways enjoy my take on our favorite Small Town!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary:
> 
> It was just another Day in Eureka, then BAM! Erica, Cater, Allison, Jo, Fargo, and Henry wound up in 1947. They eventually found their way back home with the help of Trevor Grant but surprise! Home isn't exactly the way they left it. Its a new day, same town.  
> Set in season four after the time line change, the six adjust to their new yet somehow still the same crazy, unpredicalble, dynamic lives.  
> Notes:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 4 is one of my favorites, at one point I tried to write a pregnancy from Jo's perspective but it didn't get far because I just can't write a story from the point of a character that isn't mine without feeling like I'm taking away from the original creator's intentions. Erica is my own and I can work with her. I only own Erica and Rockne as mentioned, nithing else. I do kinda skip around the episodes sorry. And I like to use quotes for charpter titles!  
> Anyways enjoy my take on our favorite Small Town!

Eureka was always known for keeping everyone on their toes, but this was beyond the normal unexpected crazy. Erika Dannels was one of the many scientist who delt with the issues that popped up, and was one of the six who got caught in the wormhole to 1947. Before that, she was running her own department, had created the A.I. System of the future, and was dating a handsome man named Rockne Owens. Erika was 5’8, had red hair in a pixie cut, and stormy eyes. Things were getting serious with Rockne and everything was going great. And then, Kevin opened the link with the bridge device to 1947 to Eureka when it was an active military base. After avoiding arrest, jail brake, and a desperate race against the clock, the group was able to open the brige again and found a way back home. But surprise! Home wasn’t exactly the way they left it. Trevor Grant, one of the founders of Eureka, snuck his way with them and subsequently changed the present. Everyone was affected. Carter and Tessa were still dating; had never broke up. Henry was now married to a briliant woman named Grace. Allison was no longer head of GD but head of the medical wing, and her son Kevin was no longer autisic. Fargo was now head of global, much to everyone’s shock. Zane and Jo had never dated, which was awful because before the time jump, Zane had proposed. For Erika, her super computer had never been created. And her job was basically peace maker on projects and this timeline’s Fargo was a dick who kept pushing projects up and writing people up for not delivering on time. Oh, and Rockne Owens had never crossed paths with Erika, so she had no boyfriend. Same boat with Fargo and Jo. Because they couldn’t send Trevor back to his correct time, they changes his name to Charles and everyone else had to slip into their ‘new lives’. For Erika, it wasn’t the best but it also wasn’t the worst. Her life was fairly similar to her old one so it was easier for her to slip in. 

Currently she was on the Nulwebs, nonlethal weapons with Dr. Perish with Zane. A thin man with dark facial hair who might have been seen as attractive had he not carry such a soured ego. Perish was especially cranky. His attitude sunk even lower when Fargo and Jo came for a demonstration. Now it wasn’t all Fargo’s fault, General Mansfield was breathing down his neck and Fargo was a meek guy. Erika knew he was trying to play the big dog and for the most part it was cute. Today was not a great example. Most of the nonlethal were still in progress and had many kinks to work out so no one was happy for a surprise inspection. Perish even warned them the prototypes weren’t ready, but Fargo insisted. They started with the Unidirectional plasma field, which allowed passage from one side but not the other. It worked just fine with hand and walking but when Zane fired a beanbag at Fargo the field didn’t hold up. Jo caught it before it hit Fargo in the face. Erika watched bemused. "Not Cool!" Fargo snapped, now on egde that he was almost hurt. Next was the riot suppression system, which they were using on killer bees. RSS was one of the better designs but still had some tweaking. Of course today it didn’t work. Fargo got impatient and yelled at them to fix everything before he left. His temper was particularly short. 

“Well that could have gone better. I’m gonna grab lunch.” Erika said, her humerous tone not taken well. That’s when the anger started, the malfunctioning of the RSS. 

Erika had very little rage to begin with, so the affects took longer for her. Fargo, Perish, Zane, and Jo however, were a few of the first in the building to show symptoms. Erika wasn’t there when Fargo went to ‘apologize’ and got into a fight with Perish who proceeded to damage the lab. She came back to GD with Zane, who seemed a little on egde but she didn't really notice, before the building got locked down. Since the lab was locked down for containment, she walked while she worked on her tablet. Tensions were starting to rise around her. People getting into disputes, normally timid scientists were shouting. Every little annoyance and disagreement turned into full blown fights. Like a wild fire in dry vegetation. Everyone had pent up rage boiling under the surface.

Erika clenched her jaw as she looked at her work load. Stupid director Fargo had assigned her to three different projects with impossible deadlines he wanted her to make. She was his bloody crowd control, the person to make it happen. No one can work under his conditions! But he expected her to make the people he couldn't intimidate do his work while he sat around in his giant office he didn't desereve! Erika set the tablet down and took a deep breath. That was the old Fargo, this timeline's Fargo, not the one she knew. Fargo would relax the conditions and listen to her. She’d talk with him soon. Suddenly, the power failed, and it seamed to only make people angrier. The fights turning violent, people began destroying labs, experiments, and equipment. Erika went to the medlab as it went into full bolwn riot, looking for a safe place. Everyone else had left but Perish, who was strapped down and sedated. She kept an eye on him as her own anger simmered. Her head snapped when the doors open; Jo and Allison carefully walked in. “Tess?” Allison called. 

“She’s not here.” Erika walked towards them, “Staff and guards are all gone. Everyone except Perish.” She nodded to his bed. Jo looked like she hadn’t slept in days, which told Erika she would look the same if she wasn’t already.

“Tess must have tranqued him to save him from himself.” Allison mumbled as she checked his vitals. His eyes were bloodshot. 

Suddenly he jerked up and started yelling at them like an animal. Jo and Erika forced him down while Allison sedated him again, “If this is happening to him, the others will be getting worse too, and so will you two.” She told them. 

Jo Looked horrified, “I have to find Zane while I still can.” She went out the doors. She ended up finding him over by the routunda stairs in a brawl with one of her guards, and breifly had his hands on a gun. She disarmed him and notified Carter "big affirmative on Zane being affected. I'm bring him to the med lab before I kill him myself!" The last words she punctuated out to make sure he knew it too. 

“You know, the sedations won’t keep him out long,” Erika watched Perish, “The adrelaline in his system is processing it too fast. Its only a matter of time before the sedatives won't have any affect at all.”

Allison swallowed, “I know.” 

~

Zane was defiantly affected when Jo brought him in. Erika helped hold him still while Allison sedated him and then strap him down onto the bed next to Perish, “It’s for your own good.” She said between clenched teeth. He wasn’t out for long though. But that wasn’t their biggest problem, the roit had made its way to outside the infirmary doors and the mob was trying to get in. 

Carter called when him, Tess, and Fargo reached the nulweb lab, saying he believed he found where the anger originated. Allison was pressing the door shut while Jo stabbed at the arms trying to get in. When the mob let up and the doors shut she destroyed the keypad, sealing them inside. Erika gave the two jerks another dose but it barely made a difference. Cater asked how they were.

“We’re trapped with two jerks and a murderous mob, thanks for asking.” Jo told Carter through her teeth an a layer of sarcasm. 

“Allison is Perish there, can he help us?” Carter asked. Instead of answerig he took the moment to threaten Fargo, "I'm going to kill you and that tiny head of yours!!!" Fargo yelled back he was fired and his head was plenty big. 

“Alright is Zane there, can he tell us what the ray in his lab does?” 

“The RSS? It does three things, One! Two!” He flipped them off as he counted. 

“Okay nevermind.” Allison interrupted. 

'God- help me. I'm gonna strangle all of these idiots.' Erika thought before she pulled the com in. “The RSS was desided for riot control.” She clenched her jaw, “Using infrasonic waves, it’s supposed to induce oxytocin to calm down angry mobs and we used the bees as test subjects but with all Fargo’s stupid moving deadlines we haven’t hit the right frequency!” 

“Vassopresn and oxytocin differ by only two amino acids.” Allison told them. Erika turned her head, the mob was getting through the doors again. “Carter, Cater they’re getting in!” Allison shouted as she grabbed the tranquizers. She turned to Jo for help, only to watch her handcuff herself to a beam. Jo reached the point where she could no longer control her anger and to keep Erika and Allison safe she had to contain herself. "Cater we lost Jo, you have to reverse the affects of the RSS before it fries people brains."

Erika grabbed a container to use and a blunt objest and went to the doors. Allison tried to tell Carter what to do before someone grabbed her phone and crushed it. Erica used her anger to smash fingers while Allison stood back. 

~

“Attention Zombies!” Carter shouted, getting the mob’s attention. The plan was to use Fargo to lure the mob to the rotunda to fire the RSS and reverse the affects. So he pulled him out and let the mob chase after him in a eager fever. Once they got to the rotunda and got ahold of him Tess fired the RSS to the new frequency. It worked like a charm. It felt like a weight had been lifted off Erika’s chest. Perish and Zane relaxed as well. Jo had been quiet against the pole her hand-cuffed herself to when she felt herself getting past the point of no return. Erika wiped the sweat off her brow, feeling her stomach turn. Her mouth was watering. It refused to settle; to cap the day off she got to vomit in the dark, with her colleagues to hear it loud and clear as their brains cooled down. It must have been a dizzying side affect. 

“You okay Dannels?” Great, Zane was conscious enough to be aware of her. 

“Yeah, never better.” Erika groaned and she stood up, the bitter after-taste in the mouth. She sat in an empty bed to wait for the light-headedness to pass. 

“You gonna unstrap us?” Zane asked. 

“In a minute,” Erika grunted, annoyed with him, “I need to make sure you two don’t jump up and tear me to pieces.” 

“I’m not going to hurt you, I swear.” He craned his neck to look at her. “I’m not angry anymore, Carter reversed the RSS.” 

"Zane, you're always sort of angry." Erika sighed, eyeing him. But he did seam to be back to his old, snarky Zane self. She stood up when she dizziness passed and undid the cuffs, letting the boys up. Then helped Jo with her restraits. “You better clean up this mess.” 

~

Since the rage incident, Global Dynamics was in full swing of reform. A calmer environment which would produce more productivity. Erika sat with Fargo who took her off of the peacekeeping projects now backing off, reassigning her to section five to do actual work. She was given a lab and any equipment she wanted would be delivered. First thing she ordered was for all of the stuff in her garage to be moved to her new space and while that was being done Erika advised Fargo a bit more before heading to the cafe for food. 

Part of the reform was Space week, the annual rocket race around the moon and back. For most of the town it was one of the most celebrated event of the year. However, the timetraveling group was not in the same mood. Fargo was scrambeling to make sure everything would run smothly while the General was in town, which frankily was asking too much. Carter had just broken up with Tessa which didn’t go smoothly despite his best efforts. Tess wasted no time transering to Australia and to be honest she wasn't miss too bad. Tess hand't been in Eureka long and eveyone understood she was moving on to better advances/discoveries. Allison was adjusting to her new son, Carter was running off to Harvard to see Zoe, and Jo and Andy were in charge of the town’s safety while the sheriff was gone. 

Erika was trying to get her food before the masses arrived to place their bets on the race, which would be veiwed from the cafe. Her plan was to take her food and head to her lab which will be empty and quiet. Her toleration for people today was thin. Carter and Allison came in, talking about him about to surprise Zoe. It was a ploy to see if the timeline change had change her like it did Kevin. 

“Exciting day, isn’t it Dr. Dannels?” Charles Grant asked, taking a seat next to her. “Going to watch the launch?”

“For you,” Erika said, “frankly, its all a super toy race. People are excited because it’s a competition. I, am going to take advantage of a quiet workplace while everyone else is here betting to distract from reality.”

“Do you not share the fascination with space? The push for scientific discovery?” 

“It’s not discovery, people are taking a fun little race Eureka style. Lets hope things don’t go wrong while Carter is nout of town.” Erika grabbed her food and walked out. 

 

“I don’t get it.” Zane muttered as he paced in Erika’s new lab. The General was out for his head but Jo let him go, so he snuck into Erika’s lab to hide out. “Lupo loves to bust my ass! But she let me go instead of handing me to Mansfield, it doesn’t make any sense!” 

Erika sighed, dropping her fork into the to-go container. “Jo Lupo is many things, but one this she isn’t is someone who looks the other way when an innocent man is wrongly accused. Jo’s good at her job and has damn good instincts, if she doesn’t think you did it then you didn’t do it. She’s probably trying to prove that right now and if the general finds out it will cost Jo her job. You know you weren’t such a jackass to everyone you met you’d see Lupo isn’t such a hardass all the time.” 

Zane was stunned by the omission, he hadn’t really thought about it that way. He left to go see Lupo and Erika was a bit relieved to be left alone. She actually got a bit of work done before the catastrophe came to light. Allion used TAP fluid for fuel in Kevin’s rocket so he would win, and Larry selfishly left the self destruct mechanism out of his rocket. Now everyone was being locked down or evacuated. 

“Got this race in the bag.” She over heard Larry mutter.

Erika gave him the most coldest look on the earth’s surface. “Larry, I think we all can agree that those who cheated in the space race can be held accountable for putting the enire town in danger. And if we do live through this I’m gonna make you life Hell for the next two weeks.” The deadpan look in her face scared Larry into shutting up. 

Zane couldn’t help but snicker at the assistant as he scurried away. He rather liked Erika, and not just because she put up with his antics. She was like him but she held her own. She never took shit from anyone, was wicked smart, and what probably made him like her so much, had the reputation of someone who even though was a genius worked hard to get to where she was now. Dannels did not get her life handed to her and he respected her for that. 


	2. "She's small, but scrappy." ~Carter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erika gets some sucky news and bonds with Jo over their crappy new lives.

“Perish, I’m not your babysitter.” Erika said as she signed off of the Nulwebs; officially no longer on the project. “Fargo has pushed all projects back and had instated a calmer enviroment. You can finish your work here and move on to other projects that don’t involve me. Or get someone else to take the Nulwebs, I don’t care. I have better things to do.” She passed the screen to him, the ‘paperwork’ signed. Already they had made emense progress so they no longer needed her. 

“What magic power’s ya got to get Fargo to get you out of this brain dead assignment?” Zane asked.

“The same ones that says I don’t have to answer stupid questions, Donovan.” Erika replied, sipping on her crappy coffee. Which was weird because normally Vincent’s Vinspresso were great but lately they were a miss. She made a face and just threw it in the trash. It wasn't worth finishing, and she'd tell Vincent. He valued feedback from his regurlars to make his costumers happy. 

In the old timeline Erika and Zane were good friends. They ran into each other a couple of times and hook up once when they first met. But after that they became purely platonic, are reconnected in Eureka as friends. She never desired a more serious relationship with Zane, and would never make a move on him after him and Jo got together. For the longest time when she knew him he was the bad boy bachellor whom never be tied down. He didn't change until he met Jo. Erika got along with the snarky side of Zane; but that just meant she tolerated him. 

“Everything okay there, Dannels?” Zane asked, she seamed off lately. 

Erika took a deep breath, “Yeah, I’m just tired today or something.” She grabbed her PDA and headed for the door. In the hallway her PDA buzzed, so she slowed and glanced down to look at it. 

 

The walls suddenly shuttered and the ground shook as though an explotion went off and the alarm sounded. “What the hell?” Zane muttered as he went into the hallway to check it out. Part of the ceiling collapsed, the glass wall was shattered and multiple scientists were on the ground. Including Erika who was crumpled and unmoving. 

~

Erika groaned as she sat in the infermerary; her head was killing her. Allison Blake, being the medical director as well as her friend, was checking her. “What do you remember?” 

“I was coming in to sign off on Perish’s project and then it gets a bit fuzzy and then I woke up here.” Erika explained.

“Well the accident took place after you left Perish’s lab, temporary memory loss can be a sign of a concussion. Do you have a headache, nausa, blurried vision?” Allison listed off the symptoms. 

Erika nodded, “Yeah, my head is killing me. And now that you’ve mentioned it, I am feeling a bit queasy.” 

“Okay, I want to run some tests.” 

“great,” Erika said sarcastically as she sat back. Erika hung out for a CT scan and some blood work, the CT showed she had a mild concussion and Erika was told the results of the blood work would take a few hours so she got the alright to leave so long as she took it easy. 

****

“Human chorionic gon-what?” Erika asked the resident when she looked at the test results. There was another collapse and Allison had her hands full with more serious injuries which was why Erika was talking to a resident. 

“Human chorionic gonadotropin,” he clairfied, “It’s a hormon that is produced durning pregnacy. Congraulations Dr. Dannels.” 

“What!?” She studdied the charts, trying to do the math. It had been about a month since Founders day, before that was a steady relationship with Rockne. Sure, they had sex regularly but Erika was on brith control. Now, she hadn’t been taking her b.c. after Founder’s Day just because she preferred to only be on them while she was regularly sexually active and-  
“Ah crap!” Erika couldn’t believe how stupid she was. Even in Eureka with all the advances in technology, no birth control was 100% effective every time. And it had been roughly 6 or 7 weeks since she last had sex, which was long enough to conceive and was the earliest point to detect pregnancy. 

Shit. It explained a lot, the recent feeling of constant exhaustion, her shorted mood with everyone around her, how she couldn’t stand the taste of coffeeall of a sudden. “Son of a bitch...” she muttered. 

Erika schedule a scan in two weeks at a later hour to keep her discovery a secret, and made sure the resident kept his mouth shut. The last thing she needed was the whole town hearing about her sudden condition. Despite being a town of scientist Eureka was gossipy. Well, Vincent was a gossip and everyone else was nosey so once he heard something everyone knew. After she had gotten everything squared away, Erika headed for her lab. 

Zane spotted her in the hall and abbandoned whatever he was working on to catch up with her. “Hey Dannels,” he came to an even pace with with her, “You alright?” 

Erika internally groaned, she just wanted to hide in her lab, she already had enough on her mind. “Zane- look I’m really busy right now so what ever you want can wait.” 

“Wha, now hold on a second.” Zane stepped infront to make her stop, studying her face, “I just wanted to see if you we okay from this morning. I heard you got a concussion from the collapse.” Erika realized she was being way too harsh for no reason. Zane’s eyes narrowed, something was up and it wasn’t just from today. “Is there something going on?” 

(Yeah, a time travel baby.)

“No, I’ve just got a new project and a mild concussion thats made me a little irritated. I’m fine.” Erika tried to lighten up. 

Zane frowned. He was certain there was something she wasn’t telling him but it was clear she wasn’t going to reveal now. “Alright, well if you need a hand on that project you know where to find me.” He convayed he’d leave her alone, but secretly was planning on keeping a close eye on her. 

~

The day when the A.I.’s of Eureka went emotional and four of them became attached, or in love as some might say, was eventful to say the least. Tiny gave the town a good scare but now that she had Emo she was safely on her way to Titan. And Deputy Andy and SARAH had taken together to become the new hot couple of Eureka. Now with them together, Jo was staying with Carter while her house was being rebuilt. Not to mention Zoe getting ready to come home for a visit, it was getting pretty crowed at the Carters’. 

Despite Jo being busy making sure GD security ran smoothly, and planning her girl’s day with Zoe who would be in town in two days, she somehow managed to find time to do lunch with Erika. Cafe Diem to go and they met up at the lake; away from everything for an hour. 

“So how’s things with Zane going?” Erika asked between bites of her chicken sandwich. 

Talking about Zane was Jo’s least favorite topic. It pained Erika to see her friend so heart broken, and rather than try and get him back Jo was just letting him go. Which Erika thought was a mistake because they were perfect for each other and grew as people because of their relationship. Jo shook her head, “You know he’s that snarky jerk when we first met but worse. Some days it takes everything not to throttle him. But then, there are these moments. Glimpses, of my Zane. And what we were, you know? Then they're gone, and it just hurt. He called me Jojo- and I- I just can’t deal with him sometimes.” Jo looked so sad. 

Erika knew this reality was hard on Jo. She took a deep breath and looked at the lake, “At least you’re not pregnant.” 

"Shit, yeah. That would suck.” Jo nodded with a smile, but it faded when she looked at Erika’s face, “Oh, Erika you’re not-”

“Pregnant? Yeah, just a bit...” She looked at her friend. 

Jo tilted her head, “God, Erika I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ve only found out a week ago and I have no idea what the hell I’m going to do.”

The two sat in silence for a while poundering their seperate situations. The thoughts of which was worse; seeing a man you used to be in love with now hate you and breaks you heart every day, or being pregnant with a baby who's father never met you and lives on the other side of the world with a whole new life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter this chapter, this stories more bouncing around so it's going to vary each chapter.


	3. “Life is short, and before you know it, it’s over in a blink.” ~Jo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the duration of the episode "Stoned", Zoe Carter, Eureka's sweetheart, returns to town on break and has her eye on a new bo. Construction on Jo's house is halted and people begin to turn to stone. Meanwhile, Erika is launching a new product everyone wants to be on and Zane confronts her on a sesitive matter.

Cater had left to pick Zoe up from school, she was on a break and would be in for a few weeks so the whole town was excited their girl was coming home. Jo the first day, a Spa day planned right away after eating a giant cinnamon roll at Vincint’s then seeing the plans for Jo’s new house. Jo was rather egar to get out of the Cater house with Cater, and Zoe, and S.A.R.A.H. with her new boyfriend Andy staying there too. She needed her own place. Erika was planning on taking Zoe out shopping once the town’s sweetheart was settled in. 

Erika was sitting in Cafe Diem, she just got approved for funding for her latest project; creating a new A.I. System to help taking trash and turn it into organic maturial and reusible resorces. Her proposal predicted on cutting the growning level of worldwide trash by 75% in the first three years and the by product would replace the use of coal and oil, making fossil fuels a thing of the past. She already had 15 countries on board incuding China and Japan. With a big project that’s being funded and would bring noteriedy with success, and living in a small town new spread fast. Erika had invoices and messages of scientist wanting in on her project. Erika typed up a memo stating her requirements for submitting an aplication and after reviewing all aplications she would send a responce simultaneously so everyone would now at the same time. She sent it out as Vincent set a piece of his cinnamin roll down for her to eat. 

“Alright, tell me how this is,” the gay man asked, wanting it to be perefct to Zoe. 

Erika took a large bite, mouth watering. “Oh, mmmmmmm! Yeah, that’s a winner. You got any more of that?” 

“Oh I have a massive tray full, don’t you worry.” Vincent promised. 

The girl of the hour showed up not much longer after that. Zoe's cut and colored her hair which looked very mature, made her look grown up. So different from the dramatic eye makeup and piercings she once rocked. Vincent came out with a full sized tray full of cinnamon roll. Erika slid over, “I know it’s Jo’s day, but I’m gonna take a third of that roll if you don’t mind.” 

“By all means!” Zoe offered, knowing Vincent made far too much. “Hey do you want to join Jo and me for the spa? I’m sure we can fit you in.” 

“As nice as that sounds I’ve got to put together a team for a new project, attend two meetings, and make an apperence at Zane’s lab for some bullshit or other I can’t remember.” Erika said in between bites, “I mean Zane’s an adult and actually knows what he’s doing, I shouldn’t have to supervise him. Another time.” 

Truth be told, sitting in a sauna was no good for the pregnancy. But there was no way in Hell she’d tell Zoe that. So far the only people who knew were Jo, Allison, Grace who then told Henry. Not that she told Grace, but she bumped into her the other day and was able to figure it out with in five minutes, gave her a hug and asked if she could tell Henry. Grace’s bubbly personality put Erika off but she agreed so long as Henry was the only person she told. And so far so good. 

By lunch Erika had 12 aplications in ther inbox and four different people had come in personally to inquire on her project. Vincent’s cinnamon roll was finished long ago. So by then she was starving. 

“Hey Dannles!” Zane’s voice called across the rotundra, chaging up with her, “Heard you got funding for a new project.”

“What’da want?”

“Nuthin, just letting you know if needed an extra brain on design I’d be willing to support the cause. Sounds far more interesting than what Fargo’s got me doing.”

“Zane,” Erika sighed, “You have to submit an aplication just like everybody else within the next 46 hours on why you should be on this project.”

“Aw come on, you know my qualifications!”

“So does everyone else, that doesn’t mean you get excluded from the process. Zane, this is a fully funded project with multiple countries on board. Literally going to change the world, I have to run it as professionally as I can with means I don’t get to pick favorites. So if you want in send me an application and I’ll review it, right now I’m going to Vincent’s for lunch.” Erika hit the elevator. 

“Mind if I join you?” Zane asked stepping in with her. 

“Fine but I’m not doing an interview or talking about the project.” Erika put the ground rules down. She would not budge. 

“Fair enough.” 

 

Lunch with Zane wasn’t actually half bad. He talked about his project and how it it was practically done, which was why Zane wanted to jump on her project before Fargo assinged him to another that was ‘beneath him’. Other than Zane’s venting, lunch was nice. Erika was craving for a buttermilk chicken sandwhich with avacado, cream cheese, and honey. A bit of a strange combo but it was actually really good. Vincent was just happy to put ood ingredients together. After all the motto was “You want it, we got it.” 

By clock out time Erika had 37 applications and counting. She was tempted to start going through them but held off. She did say she’d review them once the deadline past and everyone would find out simultaneously to keep things as even as possible. After she selected her team she’d present them to the board with consisted of Fargo, some council members, and some deplomats before she proceeded. Erika focused on traking the equitment shipments coming in. 

That night, Cater and Zoe discovered Dr. Derek Thirgood at the site of Jo Lupo’s house where he shut down contruction of her house after discovering a falange; he was solid stone. 

The next day more cases of people being turned to stone popped up, the construction crew were all affected. Cater was running around to figure out the cause before people died. Jo, Fargo, and Grant called Zane in to hack into the DOD fmainframe and see which branch of government was looking into Grant’s file; turn out to just be the IRS. Erika got to experience her first day of morning sickness. Actually it was more like unrelenting nausa for a couple hours before work. A ‘fantastic’ way to start the day. 

Because of the nausa she was late for work. Zoe texted saying Jo had to cancle Spa and Carter insisted she go. Erika once again used work as an excuse to get out and told her to try Grace Decan. Thankfully Grace was able to hang in the spa with Zoe, making Erika feel less guilty. 

She was less sympathetic to her coworkers. Erika found her pactince was thin and burned quickly, and she snapped at people more. It was no different than being on her period, which she expected. The symptions of the first trimester were similar to pms and periods; easy to understand why many women don’t detect they are pregnant until more obvious signs, lack of period being the biggest. It made the more skittish steer clear and cut down the number of people bothing her significantly. 

Erika let an audible groan when Donovan entered her previously empty lab, “Do you actually do work around here? Cause everytime I turn around you’re there bothering me.”

“I’m not here to bother you.” Erika gave him a deadpan look, “Okay, mabye just a little. But it’s not about the project or anything work related.”

“What?” Erika exhaled, swivling in her chair. She realized she was kinda biting his head off, “I’m sorry, all this set up is a pain in my ass.”

Zane nodded as he leaned against the railing, “Understandable. I mean you’re overseeing a massive project, running around trying to keep everone on the same page across the globe, not to mention you’re growing a human, that takes a toll.” 

Erika faltered, “What? Who told you?”

“You just did.” He took a seat, “Come on Erika, you’ve been off since the rage incident. Snapping at everyone that bothers you, you’ve stopped drinking Vinspresso, and have delvoped a questionable pallet, I give suble, but still questionable. Plus you’ve started wearing looser tops and I know you are private about your active sex life so it’s not hard to come to the conclusion of unintentional pregnancy.” Zane explained his evedince supporting his case. 

Erika had to hand it to Zane, he was far more observant than anyone gave him credit for. Most residents of the town were so absorbed in their own egos and work they had to be told point blank. She had been banking on being able to hid her situation for a few months at least; it wasn’t like she could explain the father was from another timeline. Clearly Zane had been suspicious for a while now. 

Erika looked him in the eye, “Have you told anyone you’re prevaling theory?” 

“No.”

“Good. Don’t. It’s not your information to share.” Erika sat back, “The last thing I need is the whole town questioning me about my personal life whenever I leave the house.”

“Alright, I won’t. Can I ask if the father is aware or involed in anyway?”

“That’s none of your business.” Erika told him, “But no.” 

“Doesn’t he have the right to know?”

“Don't I have the right to chose what to do with this information, my body? Besides, I haven’t decided if I’m keeping it.” 

“Well what’s keeping you from making a decision?”

“First off, I only found out like two weeks ago which in retrospect wasn’t that long ago, and this is one of those mssive lifealtering choices that needs to be taken seriously. Second, I haven’t gone in for any scans or know whats going on in there. Third, if I do decide to keep it and become a mom I have a demanding career I will have to alter and work around because I’m not going to change my job but I’m not going to back out of a kid. I have a lot to think about.” Erika sounded defensive, and she was a bit. 

“Okay, okay, I didn’t mean to get you worked up.” Donovan held his hands up, but talked in a gentle tone to calm her down, “I’m gonna be the last person to judge you on your choices and what ever you decide. I just want to say as a child raise by a single parent for most of my life, I have a little more insight on the kid’s perspective.”

“If there’ll be a kid.” Erika reminded. 

“If. When’s your first scan?” Zane asked. 'Why is he so interested and being so nice?'

“Yesturday. I had an appointment with Alison off the clock to minimize the amont of people who know and then stoney was found and now the med lab has been full and busy all day. So in between this catastrophe and the next.” 

~

Cater was scrabling, Zoe was the lastest victim. Jo had dropped off an overnight bag with him knowing he wouldn’t leave Zoe’s side. It had been a long day, almost having a stiuation with Grant, Zane caught on that Grant’s personnel was a fake. Jo tried to get him off the scent but wasn’t convinced he let it go. Jo had to do her job and keep an eye on GD so she couldn’t stay. Erika was hanging in her office. 

“Hey how’s Zoe?” Erika asked from her tablet. 

“She wasn’t looking good when I stopped by but Allison and Carter are working on it.” Jo reaffirmed to herself mostly. 

She cleared her throat. “Zane knows.” Erika looked at Jo for a reaction.

“He’s only suspiscious about Grant, trust me I’ve got him handled.” Jo brushed it off. “Zane gets bored so easily he’ll forget about Grant and move on to bothering some one else.”

“No, not about that.” Erika wasn’t sure what her friend was talking about. 

Jo’s brows furrowed, “Wait what are you talking about?”

Erika snorted as she set her tablet down. “Donovan knows I’m pregnant.” 

“What? How? Why did you tell him?!” 

“I didn’t!” Erika smiled, “He figured it out on his own. He is kind of a genius even in a town full of geniuses. I admit with how he is in this timeline, I never expected him to notice the small changes, most people in this town are so self involved they never notice the simple things. You know thats why Carter is so good at his job because he’s not a genius he can see the simple stuff. 

“Anyways, he’s been sworn to secrecy after I inivertantly comfirmed his suspicions. And frankly he has nothing to gain by telling people even if he cared.” Erika adjusted in her seat. 

“Yeah I’ll make sure Zane keeps his mouth shut.” Jo signed anoyed, she didn’t have the same amount of faith in this Zane. 

“Jo, give him some credit. I know he’s a jackass but he is still fundimentaly Zane.” Erika soften, “I know you’re heartbroken, but that doesn’t mean we can’t rebuild the relationships we had before the timeline jump.” 

“Maybe for you. But in this life we were never- and it’s just too hard to be. Please just, stop.” 

Erika gave her a sympathetic look, “Jo, I’m not saying this to hurt you. But your guy is still in your life aand you’re letting him slip away. I want you to be happy so you don’t end up like me.” She stood up and left her friend to process what she was saying. 

Carter figured out the Spa used the same base formula as the solvent which was the activator to the pirm. With the help of Allison they made a cure into a mist and steamed Zoe. It cut things close but it worked and thankfully they were able to save everyone including Thirgood. Unfortunately that was when Jo learned that Zoe’s new crush she had asked advice about earlier, was Zane. And that was just the cherry on top of a crappy day. 

~ 

It was horribly early in the morning but Allison insisted Erika had pushed her check up off long enough. At the moment there were no eureka level catatrophese and all of the people that had been turned to stone where release with a clean bill of health so the infermerary was pretty much empty. Still, Erika insisted they meet in a private room to go over all of the information. 

After a lenthy discussion on her options at this point in her pregnancy and what she wanted to do at this point, Allison began setting up for a scan. Erika still hadn’t made any decisions, wanting all the information at this point in time before she made one. 

“Sit back,” Allison was warming up the ultrasonic scanner with her hand, “This is the latest model, it’s going to give us a clear image of what’s going on inside.” 

Erika lifted up her shirt as she stared up at the ceiling. “How’d you do it? Change your life, and be a single mom twice?”

“Well, it was everything but easy. It’s the hardest job you will ever do even when you have all the help in the world, even when you have a healthy normal child its hard. And it never stops being hard. I lived with Kevin being Autistic for so long, and now I have a totally different kid. He used to be completley dependent on me and it was so hard to connect with him and now he’s this normal kid that doesn’t need me as much. But I love my kids so much despite everything I’ve been through and I don’t regret having them for even a second.

“Now,” Allison pressed the scanner against Erika’s torso, just below the navel. “It a seond we’ll have a clear inmage of your uterus.”

Erika turned her head to look at the screen, “Is it just me or does it look a little crowed in there?” 

Allison’s brows furrowed as she adjusted, but, “No, your right. I count three sacks. You’re having triplets!” 

Erika swallowed a lump in her throat. “Triplets.” She repeated.


End file.
